Celebrating 10 Years of Discovery

Science Foundation Ireland:
Celebrating 10 Years of
Discovery
SFI Vision
Ireland will be a global knowledge leader that
places scientific and engineering research at the
core of its society to power economic development
and social progress.
SFI Mission
SFI will build and strengthen scientific and
engineering research and its infrastructure in the
areas of greatest strategic value to Ireland’s longterm competitiveness and development.
Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
10 Discoveries and Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
10 SFI research links with multi-national companies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
10 Rising Stars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
10 SFI researchers engaging with Irish companies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
10 Tales of the unexpected. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
10 Researchers who moved to Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
10 International Collaborations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
10 Education and Outreach Programmes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
10 Areas of focus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
10 Things you may not know about SFI research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2|3
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
Introduction
At the dawn of the 21st century, Ireland experienced a fundamental
change in how academic research is funded here - and that change was
to transform the country’s global reputation and output in science and
engineering.
The stage was already set: the Programme for Research in Third-Level
Institutions (PRTLI) was strengthening the infrastructure and research
capability, Ireland’s economy was on the up and a Foresight exercise had
identified where Ireland could carve out niches of expertise that would
be valued beyond our borders.
From that vision came Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the State agency
founded to manage investment of public funds into fundamental and
excellent research in life sciences and ICT, and later energy was added as
a third strand.
The momentum gathered pace, and centres of excellence and research
clusters fostered collaborative partnerships between academic
researchers, with industry and reaching overseas.
As the capacity built, Ireland’s growing reputation of a place to do good
science has attracted some of the brightest minds to move here, through
SFI award programmes.
Young researchers have been encouraged through SFI programmes to
stay in Ireland and put down the roots of their knowledge here, keeping
a pipeline of innovative and sometimes game-changing pursuits flowing.
And what happens when you give researchers the space to explore? It
allows bright minds to recognise when serendipity strikes and to harness
those unexpected discoveries, driving research in new and exciting
directions.
As the science and engineering research flourished, the output was further recognised,
to the extent that Ireland ranks in the top 20 nations for quality of scientific publications.
And in some areas - such as immunology and nanotechnology - we are soaring to the
top of the charts.
Patents rose too - in many cases marking the movement of discoveries towards the
market or clinic – and industry collaborations between SFI researchers and companies
ranging in size from indigenous SMEs to giant multi-national corporations such as Intel
and Pfizer now further strengthen Ireland’s knowledge economy.
New and innovative Irish companies have developed too on a foundation of SFI-funded
research, including HeyStaks, which offers web users a new and more effective way of
searching the Internet, and BlueBox Sensors, which can provide real-time readouts of
changes in brain chemicals over time.
Over the years SFI has built and worked in partnership with Government Departments
and state agencies such as Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Health Research Board,
Higher Education Authority and many more to generate the knowledge that will bring
economic benefits and societal value to Ireland.
And while this booklet cannot capture the scope or impact of the full decade of discovery
that has been driven by SFI-funded research, it aims to offer snapshots of where the
journey is taking us.
10Discoveries
and Developments
1
2
3
4
Closing the gap on junctionless
transistors
Prof JP Colinge at Tyndall National Institute has made
a junctionless transistor, which can facilitate future
miniaturisation and reduced energy consumption
of electronic devices. In his device, electron flow is
controlled by a silicon gate circling a silicon nanowire.
The gate can be “tightened” to restrict the flow
of electrons, similar to a ring around a hosepipe
restricting the flow of water.
Wasting proteins found in Duchenne
muscular dystrophy
Getting closer to the Higgs Boson
A team led by Dr Ronan McNulty from University
College Dublin was the first to ‘rediscover’ both
the W and Z bosons using the LHCb detector, one
of the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at
CERN. This is a key milestone in their hunt for the
elusive Higgs Boson, the sub-atomic particle that
explains why things are heavy.
Blooming genes discovered
Key insight into nanoparticle
interactions
Prof Kenneth Dawson from University College Dublin
found that nanoparticles in a biological system become
covered by a cloak or corona of molecules from that
system. The finding has fundamental implications for
the use of manufactured nanoparticles in medicine,
industry and the environment.
6
Prof Kay Ohlendieck’s team at NUI Maynooth combed
through proteins produced in Duchenne muscular
dystrophy and found key molecules linked to the
process of muscle cell death in the degenerative
condition. They have also demonstrated that a form
of genetic treatment can diminish the wasting effects.
Dr Frank Wellmer’s lab at Trinity College Dublin
formed part of a team that identified genes which are
switched on and off for flower development in the
well-characterised plant Arabidopsis thaliana, or thale
cress. The findings could ultimately help to improve
crop yields.
4|5
5
7
8
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
Better Weather Forecasting
With support from SFI the Irish Centre for High-End
Computing (ICHEC) is collaborating with Met Éireann
to develop and run both Climate and Numerical
Weather forecast models. The aim is to improve
the accuracy of weather forecasts, giving better
predictions of extreme events such as storms and
major rainfall, and to better predict the power output
from turbines on wind farms. Running flood models
and improved climate models help Ireland prepare
for future change, to avoid loss of life and property
damage.
Getting a grip on graphene
Prof Jonathan Coleman and his team at the Centre
for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and
Nanodevices (CRANN) have developed a method to
split the abundant carbon material graphite down into
billions of individual layers of graphene in solution.
These atom-thick layers could be used to make
stronger and lighter plastics, to enhance electronic
processing and improve energy conservation.
Unravelling the cause of diabetes
A team led by Prof Luke O’Neill at Trinity College
Dublin has discovered that the peptide hormone Islet
Amyloid Polypeptide (IAPP), which gets deposited
in the pancreas in Type 2 diabetes, is a trigger for
inflammatory molecules that damage the pancreas in
the disease, offering a new understanding of how the
condition arises.
9
A new weapon against a major healthcare bug
Researchers at the SFI-funded Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre
in University College Cork and Teagasc Moorepark have found a
new antimicrobial agent, Thuricin CD, that can kill the antibioticresistant bacterium Clostridium difficile, which poses a major
problem in clinical and healthcare settings.
The new antibiotic could reduce the risk of disease
recurrence compared with that of broad-spectrum
antibiotic treatment, because it spares the
normal gut flora that help to limit C. difficile
growth. Thuricin CD was discovered by
screening over 30,000 bacteria isolated from
the human gut. “Thuricin is an important discovery in the
search for new therapies to combat C. difficile
infection,” says Barry
Kiely, CEO of healthcare
company Alimentary
Blazing a path from the Sun to Earth
Health, to which Thuricin
Dr Peter Gallagher’s group at Trinity College Dublin
is licenced. “The licensing
has analysed three-dimensional images of the Sun
taken by NASA’s twin STEREO satellites. The research
of Thuricin is proof of how
has identified features of solar storms and the
collaborative industrypaths of high-energy particles to Earth that stand
to improve our forecasts of when disturbances in
academic research
the Sun’s atmosphere are likely to interfere with
telecommunications systems on Earth.
projects are producing
tangible results that will
ultimately benefit the end
user, and how an Irish biotechnology firm can collaborate with
internationally recognised Irish researchers to strengthen Ireland’s
knowledge economy.”
10
10 SFI research
links
1
with multi-national companies
New views on sporting events
5
Disney Research and SFI CSET CLARITY are working
together to explore how using multiple cameras
can enhance the high-end broadcast of major
athletic events and bring well-known sports to larger
audiences, and how enhanced visuals and statistics
can be used by coaches. The findings stand to be
applied widely in sports and broadcasting.
2
IBM collaborations
IBM has numerous collaborations with SFI research
groups. As an example, IBM has established a
‘collaboratory’ with Irish Higher Education Institutions,
in which IBM researchers will share skills and resources
with university researchers to develop knowledge
and skills relating to exascale stream computing. The
“collaboratory” which is supported by IDA Ireland
enables IBM supercomputing and multidisciplinary
researchers to work alongside SFI-supported researchers
at the SFI CSET Centre for Telecommunications ValueChain Research (CTVR) in Trinity College Dublin, the
Photonics Systems Group at the Tyndall National Institute
in Cork, and the Applied Optics Research Group at
National University of Ireland Galway.
3
Faster, cost-effective network
communications
The Photonics Systems group at Tyndall National
Institute works with major international companies
– including British Telecom - to discover ways of
speeding up and simplifying how information is
moved over optical networks. The aim is to support
future cost-effective and high-bandwidth connections.
4
Applied optics
Japanese firm Shimadzu, one of the world’s leading
manufacturers of advanced imaging equipment for
medical diagnosis and treatment, is collaborating with
the Applied Optics Group at NUI Galway, led by SFI
researcher Prof Chris Dainty. The collaboration focuses
on the field of imaging techniques, where the NUIG
group has a number of patents.
6|7
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
Flexible displays for electronics
The SFI-funded Centre for Research on Adaptive
Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN) and
Hewlett-Packard are collaborating to develop a cost
effective flexible, transparent, thin-film electrode.
This is a critical component in the development of
new electronic flexible displays that can be used for
laptops, e-books and other electronic devices that are
ultra-thin, flexible, lightweight and have low power
consumption.
6
Monitoring brain chemistry in real
time
Prof John Lowry at NUI Maynooth worked with Eli
Lilly and Solvay Pharmaceuticals (now part of Abbott)
to develop a sensor platform that offers real-time
readouts of chemical changes in the brain over time.
The system, which was informed by SFI-funded
research, has been licenced to spin-out company
BlueBox Sensors.
7
Developing better communications
systems
Working with Cork-based company Firecomms,
researchers at Tyndall National Institute have
developed and demonstrated high speed photonic
transceivers for next-generation short-reach
communication systems. These high-integrated
components are set to replace
conventional copper cable based
systems due their higher
bandwidths and lower cost
of manufacture.
8
Intel and SFI centres
Intel has strong links with SFI research centres. The Centre for
Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN)
has a long history of working with the company on research for
its future technologies and products – including a collaboration
with Prof Mike Coey on the use of magnetic nanomaterials for
data storage. Intel has placed researchers at CRANN, which
signifies the special relationship.
Meanwhile Intel has a collaborative programme with Tyndall
National Institute to investigate next generation materials, devices
and photonics technologies that could have a profound impact
on the performance and direction of future electronic devices. The
agreement is the first of a kind for Intel in Ireland and establishes
a direct collaboration between Tyndall and the heart of Intel’s
technology research group in the US.
9
Detecting cancer cells in the blood
The Biomedical Diagnostics Institute at Dublin City
University is collaborating with J&J’s Ortho Clinical
Diagnostics Division on an instrument to detect
cancer cells in the blood. Their approach
aims to advance the sensitivity and use
of the company’s existing platform for
monitoring a patient’s response to
cancer therapy.
10 Cisco engages with SFI Researchers
Cisco’s 170-strong R&D operation in Galway is already
making significant contributions to the networking
giant’s product strategy, especially several unified
communications features of Cisco Quad. Notably SFI
supported engagement with Cisco include the Digital
Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) and Waterford
Institute of Technology’s TSSG research group.
10
Rising
1
2
3
Stars
Dr Ross O’Neill
Hamilton Institute, NUI Maynooth
Dr O’Neill has developed MuteButton, a non-invasive
system to address tinnitus. The device plays music to
the user through their ears and tongue simultaneously
in order to target integration centres in the brain and
train them to ignore perceived but imaginary sounds
in tinnitus.
Dr Lourdes Basabe-Desmonts
Biomedical Diagnostics Institute,
Dublin City University
Dr Basabe-Desmonts is developing new types of
sensing surfaces to monitor the development of adult
stem cells. The technique should shed light on the
biology of stem cells and also help to enrich stem cell
populations for use in cell-based therapies. She was
one of four recipients of the 2010 L’Oreal UNESCO
For Women in Science Awards (UK Ireland).
telecommunication speeds and bandwidths.
Dr Daniel Kelly
Trinity College Dublin
Dr Kelly’s work focuses on the development of novel
adult stem cell-based therapies for the regeneration
of damaged or diseased cartilage in joints. He is also
carrying out research on next generation vascular
stents for use in the treatment of peripheral arterial
disease.
8|9
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
Dr David Finn
NUI Galway
Dr Finn is looking at brain receptors, neurochemistry
and behaviour in order to increase our understanding
of the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the
development and treatment of pain, inflammation,
mood disorders and impaired cognition.
6
Dr Silvia Giordani
CRANN, Trinity College Dublin
Dr Giordani’s aims to increase the function of
nanostructures, tiny objects whose properties are
opening new opportunities in manufacturing. One of
her projects is to develop nanotubes with molecular
switches for smart and sensitive devices.
7
Dr Oliver Blacque
University College Dublin
Dr Blacque is using a roundworm model to tease out
the molecular workings of primary cilia, appendages
on many animal cell types that have a role in sensory
perception. In humans, defects in these functions
underlie forms of kidney disease, bone abnormalities
and blindness.
Dr Andreas Amann
Tyndall National Institute
Dr Amann’s research focuses on the use of
semiconductor lasers to perform logical operations,
similar to those carried out in a computer. By
substituting the electronics currently used in
computers and telecom equipment with lasers
instead, it would be possible to achieve increased
4
5
8
Dr Barry O’Sullivan
4C, University College Cork
Dr O’Sullivan’s research includes real-world
applications of artificial intelligence and optimisation
in telecommunications and timetabling. He was the
first ever Irish researcher to give an invited address at
the renowned AAAI (Association for the Advancement
of Artificial Intelligence) Conference in the United
States.
9
Prof Fergal O’Brien
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Prof O’Brien’s group has spent around a decade
researching materials based on collagen, the most
common protein found in the body, for different regenerative
medicine applications including, most notably, bone.
The commercial potential of one particular product is undergoing significant
investigation. This is a new bone graft substitute that consists of hydroxyapatite
and collagen, which are natural components found in bone itself.
The highly specialised structure and surface of the resulting graft substitute,
HydroxyColl, has been optimised so that when the material is implanted at
a site of bone injury, it recruits the body’s own regenerative mechanisms and
encourages bone to repair.
In particular, the porous nature of the HydroxyColl means that fluids can
perfuse through it and cells can grow dynamically and form networks.
Then the implanted scaffold material biodegrades over time to leave the
regenerated bone in place. The material could also be used to help improve
the bioactivity of dental and orthopaedic implants.
HydroxyColl is one of a number of products from Prof O’Brien’s lab that are
being commercialised with support from Enterprise Ireland building on SFIfunded research.
“Moving scientific research into the clinical and /or
commercial arena can be a slow process and without
adequate funding at the basic research level, the quality
of products/therapies developed in Irish universities will
be inferior to that required to attract investment, which
ultimately benefits the Irish economy,” says Prof O’Brien.
10
Dr Emma Teeling
University College Dublin
Dr Teeling is looking at the genetics of bats. Her
work compares genomes of bats and various other
animal species to tease out how nature has addressed
particular problems and could inform about individual
conditions such as inherited deafness, as well as more
general ageing and the immune response.
“Although there are no guarantees on how successful the
products will ultimately be, I believe that the sustained funding
provided to my lab by SFI is a good example of how at least
we can strive to produce the best therapies possible by funding good scientific
research which may eventually translate to the commercial and clinical arenas.
10 SFI researchers engaging
with Irish companies
1
5
Teaching old drugs new tricks
Irish biotechnology company Sigmoid Pharma has a
long-standing collaboration with Prof Cormac Taylor’s
lab at Unversity College Dublin. Their studies, which
received SFI funding, have led to Sigmoid’s innovative
formulations being used to treat chronic inflammatory
bowel disease by delivering existing medication in a
new way.
2
A new test for thyroid disorders
SFI-funded CSET the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute
has teamed up with Cork-based company Audit
Diagnostics to produce a rapid, low-cost test for
thyroid disorders, which can be misdiagnosed due to
their general symptoms. The project aims to develop
a test that will avoid delayed or incorrectly prescribed
therapies.
3
The Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at
NUI Galway has a partnership with Galway-based
company Creganna-Tactx Medical, which designs and
manufactures technologies for minimally invasive delivery
and access systems. Together they are developing onestop platforms to allow stem cells grown at a facility to
be transported to a clinical site, thawed and delivered in
a rate-controlled manner into the body.
6
7
Discovering and organising experts
in the enterprise
Getting a closer look at the product
Irish company Eblana Photonics uses the Advanced
Microscopy Laboratory at the SFI-funded Centre
for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and
Nanodevices (CRANN) to image and generate
elemental composition maps of tiny structures in their
laser emitting diode, which emits at near-infrared
wavelengths for high speed optical communications,
sensing, measurement and other applications.
10 | 11
Boosting analytical expertise in Irish
industry
The SFI-funded Irish Separation Science Cluster, led
by Dublin City University, is linking with companies
through the IDA to provide research opportunities and
training in advanced analytical techniques.
Tuning in to next generation
communications
Intune Networks is a leader in the area of ultrahigh speed switching lasers for telecommunications
networks. They are collaborating with the SFI-funded
Centre for Telecommunications Valuechain Research
(CTVR) and the ‘Photonic Integration: From Atoms
to Systems’ (PiFAS) Strategic Research Cluster.
Collaborative topics include coherent laser photonics,
integrated optical channel monitors and tunable
lasers for the next generation wireless communication
schemes.
Companies will be able to keep better track of their
in-house expertise thanks to Saffron, an information
system developed at NUI Galway’s Digital Enterprise
Research Institute (DERI) in conjunction with Storm
Technology in Galway. Saffron uses text analysis to
extract areas of expertise from in-house publications
and associates them with those employees that are
most knowledgeable on the topic.
4
Delivering innovation in medicine
8
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
Photonics research
PIFAS (Photonic Integration From Atoms to Systems)
is a SFI funded Strategic Research Cluster based at
the Tyndall National Institute tasked with the goal
of developing and supporting photonics research in
Ireland. SensL an Irish SME, is collaborating with PIFAS
SRC to develop solid state, low light level detectors
based on silicon technology, targeted for use in PET
scanners.
9
Managing virtual forests
Collaboration between experts in constraint
computation at the SFI-funded centre 4C
at University College Cork and Irish company
TreeMetrics has led to the development of a system to
optimise the management of forest resources.
The Cork firm developed laser
technology for measuring
trees in the forest, and
through an Enterprise Ireland
Innovation Partnership 4C
helped TreeMetrics convert
that data into knowledge that
means better use of our forest
resources, not just in Ireland but
worldwide.
10
Targeting immune disease
One of Ireland biggest success stories in moving
research output towards the clinic has been Dublinbased Opsona Therapeutics.
With its origins in SFI-funded research carried out at
Trinity College Dublin, Opsona has been developing
and testing therapies to selectively target important
molecules in the immune system called toll-like
receptors that drive chronic conditions such as arthritis
as well as problems of rejection after transplants.
Putting it firmly on the world stage, the biotech
“We found out by pure chance
company has also set up a large-scale collaboration
that there was a world-leading
with Pfizer, with the aim of discovering new agents
for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory
optimisation lab in our own city
diseases.
and we quickly picked up the
phone,” says TreeMetrics CEO
Enda Keane. “The most important point is, they delivered the technology for
us - it has given us a real edge. They delivered.”
The company, which now offers measurement and ‘virtual sawmill’
technology to analyse forest resources quickly and accurately, is now working
with partners and clients around the world.
“We like to say we help computers to help people make better decisions,”
comments Prof Eugene Freuder from 4C. “TreeMetrics had some data that
may have been of some use already but we wanted to transform it into more
knowledge and help people make better decisions in the forestry area.”
Unexpected
1
10 Tales of the
New test for blood cells, RCSI/BDI
A Science Foundation Ireland-funded project that set out to examine
blood cells called platelets, which are important clinical indicators in
cardiovascular disease, has come up with a novel test that can open up
new research into the field.
“The question we were asking was if we study individual platelets can we
understand new biology, and while studying techniques to do that we
came up with a new assay,” explains Prof Dermot Kenny from RCSI, who
collaborated on the project with the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute at
Dublin City University.
The test they have developed deposits platelet-specific proteins on to a
glass chip in a defined pattern, then as a blood sample washes over it the
platelets stick to the chip. The micro-patterning of the proteins on the
chip allows researchers to tailor the platform to isolate platelets expressing
particular proteins, and the approach, which has been successfully
tested in patients, stands to open up new avenues of research in platelet
adhesion and function, and possibly diagnostics.
“We started off on one track and we
ended up with what could be a
commercial test, and that came
out of doing good science,”
says Prof Kenny.
12 | 13
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
2
3
4
5
6
Malaria response gene turns up
While investigating how auto-immune diseases are
triggered in the body, Prof Luke O’Neill from Trinity
College Dublin and collaborators in Oxford made
a fortuitous breakthrough in understanding an
individual’s response to malaria: if a gene called Mal
is overactive it means the person is more likely to
succumb to the disease.
7
Unexpected role for cell death
proteins
Research into the complex mechanisms behind how
cells die took an unexpected twist when Prof Seamus
Martin’s lab at Trinity College Dublin discovered that
members of a key family of proteins called Bcl2 - which are the targets of potential anti-cancer
therapies - may not only have a role in cell death
but also in the function of cell components called
mitochondria.
8
Building blocks for new drugs
A team led by Prof Pat Guiry at University College
Dublin cracked a problem that had puzzled scientists
for decades when they discovered a selective way to
make a particularly important class of compound,
or building block, when they were working with
metal-complexes of their own ligands. The finding
could help boost the design and discovery of new
therapeutic agents.
9
Down Syndrome genetic clues
During a trawl through genetic evolution over the
last half-billion years, Dr Aoife McLysaght at Trinity
College Dublin unexpectedly discovered a dosagebalance pattern in several genes relating to Down
Syndrome and highlighted other genes that may
be linked to the condition. The findings could shed
light on maintaining the health of people with Down
Syndrome into older age.
Research by Dr Ciaran Morrison’s group at NUI
Galway found that DNA damage causes cells to make
more ‘centrosomes’, small structures important for
cell division. This finding is now being applied in a
European study to develop faster procedures to screen
for radiation exposure in humans.
New cell found in the immune
system
Working with collaborators in the UK, Prof Padraic
Fallon from Trinity College Dublin identified a
previously undiscovered white blood cell called
the nuocyte that is involved in allergic responses.
The discovery could aid the development of new
treatments for asthma and other allergic diseases.
Ocean technology to pick up heart
problems
Dr Scott Rickard at University College Dublin uses the
mathematical technique ‘blind source separation’
that was originally developed for use in US Navy
submarines to allow the sonar system to distinguish
between multiple different sound reflective bodies in
the water. But Rickard is using the same technique
to develop a wearable heart monitor (integrated into
a vest) that will be able to detect blockages in the
coronary arteries. This has the potential to replace
invasive techniques such as angiograms.
Speed gene test for horses
While analysing genes in thoroughbred racehorses, Dr
Emmeline Hill at University College Dublin identified
important genetic information relating to racing
performance, paving the way for the development
of a commercial ‘speed gene’ test to help match
horses with courses and inform breeding and training
decisions.
A quicker way to detect radiation
exposure
10
A light switch moment at CLARITY
Dr Robert Byrne’s group from SFI CSET CLARITY
was researching a type of chemical mixture called
ionic liquids, and discovered that by turning on and
off light probes they could control the viscosity of
the liquid. This has led to the development of an
optically switchable valve for microfluidic devices,
which they hope will replace mechanical-based
valving technology that requires extensive power and
electrical connections.
10
Researchers who
moved to Ireland
1
Eugene Freuder: helping computers
help people make better decisions
Lokesh Joshi: investigating the
sweetest of sciences
4C, a computer science research lab at University
College Cork that uses computers help people make
better decisions, was formed when Prof Freuder
moved his research lab from the US to merge with the
UCC Constraint Processing Group. Prof Freuder is a
Member of the Royal Irish Academy, a Fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
and was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal
Constraints.
Prof Joshi moved from Arizona State University to the
National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science
at NUI Galway, where he is SFI Stokes Professor of
Glycosciences and leads the Alimentary Glycoscience
Research Cluster. His work looks at the structures and
roles of sugar chains in health and disease conditions
in biological systems, and seeks the potential for new
technologies, biodiagnostics and biotherapeutics.
5
Walter Kolch: a bird’s eye view of
cancer and stem cells
Chris Dainty: improving the visual
world
2
Prof Dainty moved from Imperial College to NUI
Galway in 2002, where he founded the Applied
Optics Group, which focuses on adaptive optics,
vision science, imaging and scattering. Prof Dainty has
served as President of the International Commission
for Optics and the European Optical Society, and in
2011 is President of the Optical Society of America.
6
Ulla Knaus: dissecting our response
to disease threat
3
4
14 | 15
Prof Knaus moved from The Scripps Research Institute
in La Jolla, California to the UCD Conway Institute
of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research on a SFI
Stokes Professorship. Her work looks at some of the
molecular mechanisms our body’s immune system
uses against invading disease-causing organisms.
Prof Kolch came to University College Dublin from
the Beatson Institute in Glasgow, where he was
examining cellular systems relating to cancer. He now
directs Systems Biology Ireland, a CSET that combines
the power of maths, computer models and biology to
address questions about how cancer and stem cells
operate, which stands to open up avenues for more
effective therapeutic drug design.
Suzi Jarvis: improving tools for nano 7
In 2002, Prof Jarvis moved from the Nanotechnology
Research Institute in Tsukuba, Japan, to Ireland with
SFI funding. Now based at University College Dublin,
her work is improving techniques to look at biological
structures on the nanoscale and gaining insights into
clinically important structures such as amyloid, which
has relevance in Alzheimer’s disease.
Jochen Prehn: looking at matters of
cell life and death
Jonathan Blackledge: Dublin
Institute of Technology (DIT)
In 2003, Prof Jochen Prehn moved from the Johann
Wolfgang Goethe University Clinic in Frankfurt,
Germany, to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Prof Prehn uses imaging, mathematical and molecular
techniques to understand processes that underpin
cell death and cell survival, which are of relevance to
neurological disorders, cancer treatments and diabetes
mellitus.
Prof Blackledge came to his post as SFI Stokes
Professor of Information and Communications
Technology at Dublin Institute of Technology
with a wealth of experience and world renown in
engineering, computing and mathematical sciences,
having held academic posts in the UK, South Africa
and Poland. Current research interests include
biomedical signal analysis, audio data processing,
financial mathematics and cryptology.
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
8
9 Stewart Fotheringham: putting
information in its place
There’s no shortage of data in the world today, and the emerging
field of ‘geocomputation’ aims to make that information more useful
by capturing, visualising, analysing and modelling data linked to points in space.
The approach can extract useful information about a multitude of important
topics, including health service provision, coastal flooding and trends in crime.
Leading the charge in Ireland is Prof Stewart Fotheringham, who moved to NUI
Maynooth in 2004 through SFI’s Research Professorship scheme.
There he established the National Centre for Geocomputation, which is
now regarded as one of the top-five geocomputation centres in the world.
And more recently, SFI has funded the
Prof Oliver Dolly: New uses for
Strategic Research Cluster in Advanced
next-generation Botox
Geotechnologies (StratAG), which is based
Botox, may have made its way into common
at NUIM but also brings in Trinity College
parlance thanks to its wrinkle-smoothing
Dublin, Dublin Institute of Technology and
effects, but SFI Professor of Neurotherapeutics
Prof Oliver Dolly, based at Dublin City University,
University College Dublin.
10
has been working with Allergan on clinical uses
of botulinum neurotoxin, including tailoring a
variant of the protein to target sensory nerves
and alleviate pain. Prof Dolly was attracted back
to DCU from Imperial College London following
the award of a SFI Research Professorship.
“The burgeoning field of geocomputation
is a very practical science which aims to
provide decision makers in public bodies
and private industry with vastly better
information from which they can make
important decisions,” says Prof Fotheringham, who was actively involved
in large GIS (geographical information system) based initiatives in the USA,
Canada and the UK before moving to Maynooth.
“It is about spatial data, and that means any data that can be linked to
points in space, each with an X-Y co-ordinate. The location is linked to other
‘attributes’, which could be figures for crimes, unemployment rates, incidence
of a particular disease, pollution levels – there are infinite possibilities.”
Research at the National Centre for Geocomputation and StratAG includes
projects as diverse as developing in-car navigation systems that can update
drivers in real time about road conditions, more ‘intelligent’ cities and carving
up Ireland into more useful spatial units to improve data collection and analysis.
10
International
Collaborations
1
GAIA: shortening software
development cycles
Lero, the SFI-supported Irish Software Engineering
Research Centre, and NUI Galway played an important
role in an EU-wide project called GAIA, which used
agile software methods to help shorten development
cycles. The project’s motto? ‘From idea to product in
6 months’.
2
3
4
Understanding a disease-causing
fungus
Dr Geraldine Butler’s lab at University College Dublin
was part of an international consortium that made
major breakthroughs in the genetics of a clinically
important Candida species of fungus. From genetic
information they identified increased copies of genes
involved in adhesion and in the cell wall, and the
insights may lead to new treatment methods for
Candida infections.
6
7
Finding an early signature of
pregnancy complication
Prof Louise Kenny at University College Cork has
worked with teams around the world to find a
signature of metabolic ‘biomarkers’ that can identify
in early pregnancy which women will go on to
develop a potentially fatal complication called preeclampsia. The Scope study, which was part-funded
by SFI, paves the way for a new test in the clinic.
Looking for the next silicon
Researchers from Tyndall National Institute are
working with the University of Texas at Dallas, Queens
University Belfast and Dublin City University to explore
the use of new semiconductor materials with the
potential to create more energy-efficient transistors
for ICT. More efficient gate oxide materials would not
only support further miniaturisation but also improve
the battery life of portable devices.
16 | 17
5
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
8
Unravelling brain connections
Dr Kevin Mitchell’s lab Trinity College Dublin is teaming
up with scientists in Oxford to help figure out how
our brain cells are guided to wire together correctly.
They have identified at an atomic level how some
key proteins interact to ‘tell’ cells to avoid each other.
Developing ways to control such reactions could offer a
way of helping nerves regrow after injury.
Translating patent information
The Centre for Next Generation Localisation at
Dublin City University is a partner on PLUTO (Patent
Language Translations Online), an EU project that aims
to facilitate patent searches in different countries by
translating information into the relevant languages.
CNGL bring to the target platform a state-of-the-art
translation engine, MaTrEx.
Getting new insights into cancer
processes
SFI-funded researchers Prof Walter Kolch and Prof
William Gallagher at University College Dublin are
leading two major EU-wide cancer projects: one
to explore the genetic mutations that lead to the
development of childhood cancers and the other to
investigate therapeutic approaches for a type of hardto-treat breast cancer.
Putting sensors to work
A long-term collaboration between Prof Dermot
Diamond’s lab in the CLARITY CSET and Gordon
Wallace’s team at the University of Wollongong
has worked on developing ‘smart’ sportswear that
incorporates textiles modified to make garments
‘self-aware’ (capable of sensing heart and breathing
rate, for example) and the development of a robotic
fish (WANDA) for environmental monitoring that
incorporates an integrated micro-videocamera,
wireless communications and artificial muscle fins for
movement.
9
NEMO: Monitoring ‘invisible’ seizures
in vulnerable babies
Seizures or ‘fits’ are the most common neurological
emergency encountered in the neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU) – they are caused by problems such as lack
of oxygen around the time of birth, haemorrhage and
meningitis.
But here’s the problem: seizures can be very difficult to detect
in newborns, and there may be no obvious outward signs that the
baby is experiencing one, making intervention or treatment difficult.
The only accurate tool for diagnosis is EEG monitoring, a measure of
electrical brain activity, but newborn EEG interpretation is a highly
specialised skill and few experts are available.
Dr Geraldine Boylan, who directs the Neonatal Brain Research Group at
University College Cork, has been carrying out research with collaborators
into automating EEG interpretation so that seizures can be detected
reliably in the NICU.
Cork is part of an EU-wide project, NEMO, to further develop and test the
technology so that seizures can be detected rapidly and the information
can be shared with specialists remotely so timely decisions can be made
for treatment.
10
Fuel-producing bugs
SFI-funded scientists at University College Cork have
worked with researchers at University of Kent to
show that simple bacteria can be modified to produce
biofuels and medicines and help reduce our overreliance on oil-derived products. The bacteria can
be manipulated to construct internal pockets inside
themselves that work as mini-factories where biofuels
and medicines could be produced.
10
1
Education and Outreach
Programmes
5
Reaching out from CSETs
Each of SFI’s Centres for Science, Engineering and
Technology supports active education and outreach.
Initiatives have included public talks from SFI-funded
researchers aimed at engaging the wider public,
games for schoolchildren using sensor and interactive
technology being developed at CSETs and school
essay competitions that encourage teenagers to think
about the impact of science on society.
2
Science Gallery
The Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at NUI
Galway is a partner on the EuroStemCell project that
connects European citizens with stem cell research.
The project unites more than 90 European stem cell
and regenerative medicine research laboratories in a
co-ordinated effort to engage with the public about
their science.
6
SFI-funded researchers work with the Science Gallery
in Dublin on specific exhibitions to capture the public
imagination. Popular installations have included
Bubble, which explained the physics behind the
mesmerising soapy structures, while ‘Infectious! Stay
Away’ exposed the visiting public to plenty of science
about bugs and disease.
3
7
Robot competitions
Young Scientist Exhibition
The Investigators
SFI provided funding for a successful TV series about
Irish researchers, their impacts and wider fields of
study. The series, The Investigators, was aired on RTE
television and topics included Ireland in space, ageing,
sensors, climate change, crops of the future and the
‘nano’ revolution.
8
SFI engages with the annual BT Young Scientist
and Technology Exhibition by maintaining a public
stand and offering an award to the project that
most advances research in the areas of science and/
or engineering supporting sustainable energy and
energy efficient technologies. The yearly event draws
hundreds of projects from primary and secondary
school students around Ireland.
18 | 19
It’s a rap for science
The Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre at University
College Cork is has struck the right note with their
Science Raps Challenge, a competition aimed at
encouraging students to express their thoughts
about science and technology through rap music.
The initiative has spawned creations such as
“Spectrometry Rap” and “Genesis Lab Rat Rap Irish
Hip Hop”.
There’s nothing like a bit of healthy competition
to encourage participation, and when robots are
involved too, the formula never fails. Tournaments
such as RoboRugby and Robocup encourage students
at SFI-funded centres to engage with computer and
robotic technology, going on to compete in the
international competitions.
4
Fostering a better understanding of
stem cell research
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
Analysing Language
The Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL),
an SFI-funded university-based research consortium
located at DCU, UCD, TCD and UL organises the
All-Ireland Linguistics Olympiad. CNGL invites
transition-year and 5th-year students in Ireland with
an interest in languages and use their analytical skills
to learn about linguistics and participate in this fun
competition, with a view to representing Ireland in the
International Linguistics Olympiad.
9
Speakers for schools
A talk by a scientist or engineer can be a welcome and fun event for
students in their schoolday. The SFI website lists a range of speakers from
around the country who are happy to come in and talk to students about
their fields and what life is like for a researcher. Such exercises can have
enormous impact on the next generation of Irish scientists and engineers.
The Speakers for Schools programme links SFI investigators with schools to
help advance public understanding of science and engineering. Through
the programme, over 100
researchers have given talks
on their own research, more
general science and engineering
Ireland’s Only Computer &
topics, or on careers in science
Communications Museum
and engineering.
Located in the Digital Enterprise Research Institute
10
Topics include from ‘How to
think like a computer’ (Prof
Kevin Ryan, The Irish Software
Engineering Research Centre,
UL), ‘Why Blood is Red – Drugs,
Vampires, & Medicine’ (Prof
Mathias Senge, TCD), ‘Pregnancy - So
difficult, that’s why only women can do
it’ (Prof Louise Kennedy, UCC), ‘How
ecstasy affects your brain’ (Prof
William O Connor, UL), ‘Robots
are invading our lives’ (Brian
MacNamee, DIT) and ‘Email and
Web Spam: What it is and how
to combat it?’ (Dr Sarah Jane
Delany, DIT).
(DERI) at NUI Galway, this collaboration with
eGalway tells the fascinating story of key moments
in the history of communications. It looks at the
impact of the radio, has a section dedicated to
computer gaming, considers the growth of new
communications industries on Ireland and tracks the
development of the portable computer, printer and
microprocessor.
10
Areas of Focus
1
Nanotechnology: the big impact of small particles
Nanotechnology is a rising tide that lifts many boats. As science and engineering
converge on this tiny scale, where materials acquire new and useful properties, more
functional products are in the offing - such as smaller and faster computer chips and
more targeted agents for diagnosing and treating disease.
Since making its first funding awards in 2001, SFI has supported nanotechnology and
nanoscience-related activities as part of its core objective of funding quality scientific
research in ICT, the life sciences and energy.
In particular, the SFI-funded centres CRANN (Centre for Research on Adaptive
Nanostructures and Nanodevices) at Trinity College Dublin and Tyndall National
Institute in Cork have been crucibles of academic and technical excellence and industry
engagement, working with a range of Irish and multi-national partners in areas as diverse
as telecommunications, medical devices, solar energy conversion, flexible display materials
and energy-efficient electronics.
But while nanoscience forges ahead, it is crucial to understand its safety and the
interactions of engineered nanoparticles with the environment – including our bodies –
and the SFI-funded strategic cluster BioNanoInteract is one of the world’s leading centres
for these investigations.
Immunology: in our self-defence
2
The immune system is a factor in a wide range of
diseases, from the sudden onset of potentially fatal
sepsis after surgery to more chronic conditions like
heart disease, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and cancer.
SFI funds the Immunology Research Cluster at Trinity
College Dublin and NUI Maynooth, and welcomed the
announcement in 2010 by Thomson Reuters’ Essential
Science Indicators Database that Ireland is among
the world’s leading nations in this field, behind only
Switzerland and the United States.
Semantic web: making the Internet
smarter
3
Looking for what you want in a sea of online
information can sometimes lead to frustration.
But the growing ‘semantic web’ aims to make
more sense of the data by describing and
linking datasets so that computers can identify
connections between them and return more
meaningful search results. The SFI-funded Digital
Enterprise Research Centre at NUI Galway is an
internationally recognised institute in semantic
web research, education and technology
transfer.
20 | 21
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
4
Financial services: calculating the
risk
Diagnostics: detecting disease
quickly and conveniently
The Financial Mathematics Computation Cluster
(FMC2) seeks to encourage the growth of the
financial services sector in Ireland by carrying out
research into areas such as asset management and
financial risk. The SFI-funded collaboration is between
University College Dublin, Dublin City University and
NUI Maynooth and is supported by several industry
partners, including Pioneer Investments Ltd, Ryan
Capital Ltd and the Institute of Bankers in Ireland. In the future, trips to the clinic could mean a
confirmed diagnosis on the spot – and in some cases
you may not even have to leave home. Point-of-care
diagnostics and remote health monitoring are rapidly
emerging areas, and the SFI-funded Biomedical
Diagnostics Institute is developing platforms to detect
signs of disease early, often from a patient sample of
only a few drops of blood.
7
Energy: the newest strand
Constraint computation: making
hard choices easier
5
We all like to have choices in life, but sometimes
having too many choices can pose a problem.
Constraint computation offers a way of representing
knowledge and optimising choices, and the Cork
Constraint Computation Centre (4C at University
College Cork) is enhancing the approach and applying
it in domains as diverse as energy, healthcare,
manufacturing and telecommunications.
Regenerative medicine: getting
to grips with a leading edge of
medicine
6
Stem cells and gene therapy hold enormous promise
for managing and possibly even curing diseases once
thought unassailable. The SFI-funded Regenerative
Medicine Institute (Remedi) based at NUI Galway is
delving into the biology, development and application
of gene and adult stem cell therapies, looking to
harness their capacity in treating conditions such as
heart disease and joint problems.
8
When SFI was founded the main areas of research
funding were in ICT and life sciences. Since then,
energy has been added and in 2008 SFI assumed
administrative responsibility for the Charles Parsons
Awards, which fund key areas of energy-related
research around Ireland including electricity
generation and sustainable sources of energy such as
the ocean and microbial activity.
Advanced drug formulation:
improving design
9
Producing active ingredients for medicines is a major
activity in the Irish pharmaceutical sector. The SFIfunded Solid State Pharmaceutical Cluster, led by the
University of Limerick, analyses mechanisms that allow
pharmaceutical solids to be produced with predefined
characteristics, and the objective is to rationally design
solid-state pharmaceutical materials to meet the
demands of advanced formulation and drug delivery
systems.
Telecommunications: managing
network traffic
10
The Internet is an old infrastructure trying to
cope with the demands of enormous volumes of
traffic. A Strategic Research Cluster called FAME
(Federated, Autonomic Management of End-to-end
Communication Services), led by Waterford Institute
of Technology, aims to reduce the resulting congestion
by developing ‘autonomic management’ on networks
so resources are used more dynamically.
10SFI Research
Things You May Not Know About
1
Obama administration uses SFIfunded web technology
4
US President Barack Obama’s administration chose to
use Internet technology developed at the SFI-funded
CSET DERI in NUI Galway in its economic stimulus
package website Recovery.gov. The web standard,
Semantically-Interlinked Online Communities or SIOC,
aims to connect online community sites and internetbased discussions.
2
SFI researcher was first to decode an
Irish genome
5
A team led by Prof Brendan Loftus at University
College Dublin was the first to decode and publish
analysis of an Irish genome. Taken from a male of Irish
descent, the data stand to offer an insight into DNA
variation associated with Ireland’s island population.
3
The world’s purest quantum dot
came from Cork
Researchers at the SFI-funded Tyndall National
Institute developed the purest nanometre-scale
semiconductor “quantum dots” that show a record
improvement in optical characteristics over the best
previously reported results. This progress promises
to pave the way to improved optical sources and
applications in the field of quantum communication
and computing, such as ultra- secure communication
systems.
6
A standard cryptographic algorithm
contains the name of an SFI
researcher
Prof Michael Scott at Dublin City University made an
important contribution to the field of cryptography,
an important component of Internet security, when
he helped discover a new “pairing” algorithm that
was hundreds of times faster. The standard algorithm
for implementing “pairings” is now called the BKLS
algorithm - and the S at the end stands for Scott.
SFI Researcher is one of worlds most
cited computer scientists
Prof Des Higgins at University College Dublin has one
of the most cited computer publications, although
interestingly he is a biochemist. In the 1980s he codeveloped CLUSTAL, a programme to align DNA and
protein sequences, which became one of the most
widely used bioinformatics tools in the world. One of
the papers describing this work is the 10th most cited
scientific publication of all time.
Twitter translation for World Cup
SFI researchers at the Centre for Next Generation
Localisation (CNGL) developed a translation service
called “Twanslator” for the online social media site
Twitter so fans could translate updates, or tweets,
about the World Cup football tournament. The
system instantly translated and streamed tweets from
six European languages into English and vice versa.
22 | 23
Science Foundation Ireland - Celebrating 10 Years
9
7
8
Microsopy lab at SFI centre is among
world’s top facilities
The Advanced Microscopy Laboratory at the SFI-funded
centre CRANN in Trinity is one of only a handful of such
facilities worldwide. The suite of powerful instruments
not only allows scientists to see material and biological
structures at the nanoscale but also to alter and fabricate
nanostructures to offer new functions.
Increased recognition of Irish research
output
The first decade of the 21st century has seen Irish research
output change substantially, and the quality of that output
has driven Ireland from a global citation ranking of 36th
in 2003 to 19th in 2008. Certain areas of excellence have
shone particularly brightly, including immunology and
material science, based on the quality of publications.
10
SFI resarcher’s Oscar-winning
role
Prof Anil Kokaram won an Oscar for
the development of visual effects
software for the film industry. He
worked as a consultant with the UKbased The Foundry, a leading developer
of image processing software for the
post-production industry, and won his
Oscar in 2005.
The visual effects and image-processing
software developed by Prof Kokaram
and the team have been used on
a host of high-profile feature films
including Casino Royale, X-Men, The
Last Stand, The Da Vinci Code and
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
UCC/Tyndall at the top of the
microelectronics world
The Irish approach to promoting interaction between
universities and industry in the field of microchip design
was recognised as the best in the world at a conference
in San Francisco in 2009. Representatives from University
College Cork and the SFI-funded Tyndall National Institute
received the Outstanding Chapter of the Year Award from
the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society, the world’s largest
professional association in the field.
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)
Wilton Park House
Wilton Place
Dublin 2
Ireland
Tel
Fax
Email
+ 353 (0) 1 607 3200
+ 353 (0) 1 607 3201
[email protected]
www.sfi.ie